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Born some time
between 1145 and 1147
at
Manorbier, Pembs.
, the youngest son of
William deBarri
and
Angharad
, daughter of
Gerald deWindsor
and
Nest
, daughter of
Rhys ap Tewdwr
. He received his early education from his uncle
DavidFitzGeraldbishop of S. Davids
, and at the
abbey of S. Peter
,
Gloucester
. Subsequently he was a student at the
University of Paris
, and after his return thence, in
1172
, he received a commission from
Richard
,
archbishop of Canterbury
, to
enforce the payment of tithes on wool and cheese
in the
diocese of S. Davids
. He came into conflict with
Jordan
,
archdeacon of Brecon
, whose office was then transferred to
Gerald
who held it until he retired from public life. After
DavidFitzGerald
's death in
1176
,
Gerald
was the chapter's favourite candidate to succeed him as
bishop
, but
Henry
II
refused to recognize his nomination by the
canons
and enforced the election of
Peter
of
Lee
,
prior of Wenlock
. In his disappointment
Gerald
turned to his books and spent the years
1177-80
in
Paris
, where he proved himself a very successful
lecturer
, so he himself says. Soon after his visit to
Ireland
, accompanied by his brother
Philip
in
1183
, he received
office in the king's service
, and he acted as
mediator
between the court and the
lordRhys ap Gruffydd
. In
1185
, because of his relationship to the conquerors of
Ireland
— his mother's brothers and half-brothers and his own brothers — he was appointed to accompany
princeJohn
to
Ireland
, and he turned this task to good account by collecting materials for his
Expugnatio Hibernica
and
Topographia Hibernica
. In
1188
he accompanied
archbishopBaldwin
on his tour through
Wales
to
recruit soldiers for the third crusade
, a tour of which an account is given in his
Itinerarium Kambriae
. Early in
1194
(the year in which he completed his
Descriptio Kambriae
) he relinquished his office under the
Crown
and once again devoted himself to his studies, this time at
Lincoln
, where he remained until
1198
. He was offered the bishoprics of
Bangor
and
Llandaff
in
Wales
and those of
Ferns
and
Leighlin
in
Ireland
, but his mind was set upon that of
S. Davids
.
Peter
of
Lee
d.
16 July 1198
, but once again the
king
and the
archbishop of Canterbury
objected to the appointment of
Gerald
as
bishop
to succeed him, even though he was the chosen favourite of the chapter. From being a struggle for the appointment of
Gerald
as
bishop
, the conflict developed into a struggle for the recognition of
S. Davids
as a metropolitan see independent of
Canterbury
. It lasted for five years, and
Gerald
went three times to
Rome
to plead his cause before
popeInnocent
III
. The story is told in his autobiography
De Rebus a Se Gestis
(its last section is lost) and his
Dialogus de Jure et Statu Menevensis Ecclesiae
. In his enthusiasm
Gerald
did not realize that it was his very qualifications for being
bishop of S. Davids
— his Welshness, his learning, and his personal energy — that made him unsuitable in the eyes of his opponents. He sought the support of some of the
Welsh princes
, but all his labour was in vain; by
1203
he had lost his supporters at
S. Davids
itself. In Nov. of that year
Geoffrey
of
Henlaw
,
prior of Llanthony
, was appointed
bishop
, and
Gerald
agreed to the appointment on condition that
Geoffrey
would not betray the ancient rights and privileges of
S. Davids
. He devoted the remainder of his life to his studies and to literature, but in
1205
he went on a spiritual pilgrimage to
Rome
. He d. in
1223
and was buried at
S. Davids
.

With his friend
Walter Map
, and
Geoffrey of Monmouth
, he forms a trio of
12th cent.writers
who wrote — in
Latin
— about things
Welsh
. In addition to the books mentioned above, he also wrote
Gemma Ecclesiastica
, an exhortation to the
clergy
on their duties, the
Liber de Invectionibus
[ed.
W. S.Davies
,
Cymm.
,
1920
], an attack upon his enemies, the
De Instructions Principis
, the
Symbolum Electorum
— a collection of his letters, poetry, speeches, etc., the
Spectuum Ecclesiae,
an attack upon the monastic orders, the
Speculum Duorum
, a number of lives of
saints
including a ‘
Life of S. David
,’ based upon the work of
Rhygyfarch
, and other minor tracts.

Sources:

Giraldi Cambrensis Opera
(1861–91)
, 8 vols.;

H. E. Butler
,
The Autobiography of Giraldus
Cambrensis
(1937)
;

Henry Owen
,
Gerald the Welshman
(1889)
;

Archaeologia Cambrensis
,
1946
(85, 256);

T. Jones (trans)
,
Gerallt Gymro
(1938)

T. Jones (trans)
,
Gerald the Welshman
(1947)
;

Saunders Lewis
,
Ysgrifau Dydd Mercher
(Aberystwyth,
1945)
;

Bulletin of the John Rylands University
Library of Manchester
, xii, no. 2;